Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Raises Stock Position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 186,715 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 14,190 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned 0.16% of SM Energy worth $5,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 172.8% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 80.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $164,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $27.52. 1,032,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,323,256. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.25. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $48.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 27.61% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.